A Paradise for Kids
by Sashocirrione
Summary: Light found a death note at age ten and everyone else in the cast is younger too. How will a 17-year-old L deal with the naughty pranks of a child Kira? Written for Keelain. No pairings other than a hint of LxSachiko.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **"A Paradise for Kids"

**Author: **Sashocirrione

**Spoilers: **Spoilers for everything up to slightly after the Raye Penber incident.

**Warnings: **Rated T for violence, death and some really minor sexual references. Also, some possibly offensive religious stuff about Christmas and misogynistic attitudes.

**Summary: **Light found a death note at age ten and everyone else in the cast is younger too. How will a 17-year-old L deal with the naughty pranks of a child Kira? Written for Keelain, the second winner of my 100th-review contest.

**Pairings: **None except a hint of LxSachiko.

**Additional Notes: **Most, but not all, canon events previous to this have occurred as normal, except for the entire cast being seven years younger when those events happened. I will try to outline all AU issues in the text itself, so that hopefully everything is clear. This fic starts on December 27th, when Light is ten years old but will soon be eleven.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note, and I do not make any money from these writings.

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

As Light dressed himself in a hooded sweatshirt and inconspicuous, slightly dingy clothing, Ryuk said, "Wow, Light, you never dress like this. Where are we going today?"

Light smiled and said, "Today, we'll sneak out and kill Raye Penber along with all the other FBI agents."

Light examined his backpack for one last check of the materials he needed. Even the red curtains were in there, sealed in a plastic bag and with no fingerprints on them whatsoever. Light hummed to himself and snuck slowly downstairs, thinking of the glorious paradise he would create. Someday all the bad people would be gone, and then he would create a worldwide paradise just as peaceful and innocent as his favorite television show, the one he obsessively collected every last bit of merchandise for - Teletubbies.

Yes, soon everyone would be as gentle and sweet as Tinky-Winky, Laa-Laa, Dipsy and Po, and if they weren't, they'd die. The other kids in his grade who had made fun of a ten-year-old for liking a show they said was for toddlers, they were already dead.

Fortunately, Light Yagami was one of the most popular kids in his school, so he created the trends and hardly any of the other kids made fun of him. Most of them were running around in Teletubbies t-shirts or with Teletubbies charms hanging from their backpacks. Otherwise, instead of making carefully-arranged individual deaths, he probably would have needed to blow up the school. Yes, most people were intelligent enough to realize the truth if a real leader showed them how. That's why the world needed Kira.

Light knew he wasn't supposed to go to the subway on his own, but that's where Raye Penber was going, and Light was allowed to go anywhere in the local neighborhood between his house and his school by himself, so he'd just pretend he was going somewhere closer and more respectable if he got caught. Still, it was best if everyone thought he was barricaded up in his room, doing homework. Then there wouldn't be any lie that might be seen through.

When Light reached the bottom of the stairs, he crouched down and scanned everything he could see, looking for the best sneaking route. He saw his sister sitting on the couch, watching one of her stupid pop stars on TV.

He barely registered a glance, but already recognized the face. It was one of those girls Sayu was always talking about nonstop, one she practically wanted to be. Misa Amane, a hyperactive little 13-year-old singer. Her sappy lyrics and high-pitched voice were particularly grating, as were her gothic Lolita clothes. Really, Sayu had no taste.

Light considered whether to crawl across the floor, or merely run for it. If he tried to run during a time Sayu briefly turned away and Sayu looked back at the wrong moment, she'd see him running for it, but if he crawled, it was probably easier to remain unobserved.

Light got down on his belly, using a very flat technique he'd seen in movies about the military. Ryuk drifted behind him, giggling and making comments. When Light had almost made it across the entire living room, there was a sudden commercial break and Sayu jumped up and ran in the direction of the bathroom, not seeing Light but tripping over him on the way.

Light said, "Sayu! Be careful!" and tried to untangle himself, but Sayu had already grabbed his backpack away.

Sayu said, "Wow, you look so mysterious. What game is this? I bet it's a spy game and I've caught you! Ha, ha, ha!"

Sayu was already up and running away before Light could think, and she was holding the backpack and beginning to open it. Light screamed and ran after, but she was quick and too far ahead, already pounding up the stairs, hidden from sight. Light panted, "Ryuk, go outside the house and wait, or I'll put you on a diet."

Ryuk was gone so fast Light could hardly believe it. Light ran up the stairs, following the sounds of his sister's giggles. He burst into Sayu's bedroom to see his worst nightmare. Sayu was just starting to slip the death note sheets out of their protective envelope. One finger had clearly touched the death note paper directly through the cuts Light had made for Raye Penber to write through.

Sayu said, "Look! I've got the secret spy documents!"

Light strode over to her, snatched them back, and said, "I win. You didn't read them yet."

Sayu squealed and made another grab, but Light held everything out of her reach, using his greater height to advantage, and her seven-year-old fists were too weak to force him to do anything. Soon he had everything back in the backpack securely.

Light said, "Well, since the investigation has been compromised, we'll have to recruit secret agent Sayu to our side, but first we need to test her loyalty with a mission."

Sayu sat on the edge of her bed and clasped her hands in delight.

Light asked, "Sayu, can you keep quiet about agent Light's mission? If there are no leaks to Mom or Dad or anyone, then I'll make you a super secret spy and we can be on the same team when we play tomorrow."

Sayu said, "Yes!"

"So, if anyone asks, you'll say you think I'm in my room? And I shouldn't be disturbed or I might stop getting such excellent grades?"

Sayu made a complex motion over her chest with one hand and said, "Cross my heart and hope to die!"

Light couldn't help a smirk from coming onto his face. It was possible that would be required of her. However, Light was sure he was smart enough that he could probably control her with lies, so she wouldn't have to die. If too many people near him died, L might catch on, L might realize that Kira could kill with methods other than heart failure.

"Okay, then," Light said, and with that Sayu didn't oppose him any more. She went downstairs placidly and settled on the couch for Misa Amane's duet with Hideki Ryuga while Light slipped out the door.

Ryuk met Light in the yard and said, "Can Sayu see me now?"

Light said, "I'm almost completely certain of it."

"You know," Ryuk said, "I'm not going to keep staying where she won't see me. I'm going to be hanging around your house regardless of the threats you make."

Light said, "I've already thought of that. I just need you to not talk about the death note or killing people or me being Kira or anything like that in front of her. All I need is a good story to tell her about what you are, and even if she talks about you, she's seven and nobody else can see you, so they'll think it's an imaginary friend sort of thing and ignore it."

Ryuk said, "I can play along and avoid those topics in front of her if you feed me enough apples. But, what am I going to be?"

Light said, "It's only a couple of days past Christmas, so you'll be a Christmas angel."

"I'm a Christmas angel? I don't think I'm good-looking enough. Do you even know what an angel is, Light?"

"Yeah, like those ghostly guys who torment Scrooge on all those Christmas specials. They put them at the tops of holiday trees."

Ryuk muttered, "I think something was lost in translation when they put Japanese subtitles on those things. Well, what will my mission be? To reform Light Yagami from being a naughty boy to a good one?"

"Of course not. I'm perfect in every way. Your mission will be to spread the holiday cheer."

"Okay, I guess I can do that. So, I just talk about snow and presents and Santa a lot?"

Light sighed. "I guess that will do. I'll give you further instructions in private if I think you're not doing it well enough, but for a stupid little kid like Sayu, you don't have to do a very good job. We have some time now, so let me give you a few pointers to start with."

Light spent the entire walk to the bus stop talking about the sorts of things Ryuk should do and say around Sayu. Then, while on the bus, there were too many people around to hear, so Light fell silent. Ryuk then tried to make conversation on the short walk from the bus to the subway, but Light only gave terse replies during those times when he thought people couldn't hear.

Light took a very odd route through the underground complex of the subway station and the many little shops attached to it, so he was always moving in the blind spots of the cameras. He held himself as upright as he could, relying on his greater-than-average height and the hood obscuring his face to give the impression of someone at least a couple of years older, so that nobody would ask him if he'd been separated from his mommy.

Soon, Light had settled against the wall in one of the blind spots, and only had to check his watch periodically, waiting for the proper time. Sure enough, Raye Penber was entirely punctual, arriving exactly at the time Light had written in the death note. Light sidled up behind Raye, falling into step with him. Then Light went through the procedure he'd planned earlier, first making his claim of being Kira and following it by his threats and then killing one nearby guy to prove his power. Light made sure he spoke in a raspy voice, trying to sound gravelly and older.

Everything went as planned, and before long Light had managed to get Raye to kill all the other FBI agents, and Raye had taken the red curtains out of the plastic bag as instructed and left everything else behind in the envelope for Light to collect. Light took the envelope, checking the contents to be sure Raye hadn't disobeyed and kept any scrap of evidence for himself. Yes, everything was as it should be.

Light slipped out the subway doors and followed Raye at a short distance, keeping an eye on the security cameras and trying to always stay in their blind spots, waiting for the show. When Raye reached the right place, Light settled against a wall and grinned.

Ryuk said, "Whatcha doing, Light? I thought you were done with him."

Light said, "Well, if you don't read what I write in the death note, you'll be surprised like this. Just wait a few more seconds."

Raye had stopped in the very middle of a busy walkway, right in front of a security camera. He was blinking in confusion for a few moments, and then he suddenly dropped his laptop on the floor and shrugged out of his trench coat.

Raye yelled, "I'm Captain Underpants, and I will fight crime and save everyone who needs help!"

Some startled passersby stopped to stare, but most kept going. Then Raye stripped down to his underpants and tied the red curtains around his neck like a cape.

He said, "Captain Underpants is here to save the day! If you have seen any crimes, or if any disturbing characters have been hanging around in the subway, please tell me now and I'll help you! Don't be shy! I have the power of toilet paper!"

Ryuk said, "You wrote that he'd believe he's Captain Underpants?"

Light said, "Yes, and he's not doing a particularly good job of it, but this is acceptable. People will see they're not supposed to mess with Kira. Kira will mess them up."

Even more people were gathering around Raye Penber, all keeping their distance, forming a wide ring of spectators. A bunch of them were on cellphones, probably calling the police.

Ryuk said, "Light, if Raye acts like this, won't it be clear he was the one who was following Kira?"

"No," Light said, "all of the FBI agents will believe they're Captain Underpants before dying."

Raye Penber was striding forward, saying to a woman, "Ma'am, it looks like you have a pretty bad cast on your foot. Did a criminal do that to you? If so, Captain Underpants will catch him for you."

The woman hobbled back out of reach, an alarmed look on her face. Just then, Light caught the sight of several uniformed cops fighting through the crowd toward Raye.

Light checked his watch and said, "Just a few more seconds, and then it's time to go."

Before the first cop could reach Raye, Raye suddenly clutched his heart and fell to the ground, spasming in agony. That cop reached Raye a few moments later and, obviously considering it to be a fake stunt of some kind, tried to roughly pull Raye to his feet and said, "None of that. You're coming with me."

Light really wanted to see the cop's expression when he found he was handcuffing a dead body, but Light could see far too many additional cops flooding the scene. It was dangerous to linger. Light began slipping away, using the same erratic pattern to go from each security camera's blind spot to the next one. Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder roughly spinning him around.

Light said, "Hey!" and looked up into the face of a very young cop.

The cop said, "Are you okay, kid? You're awfully anxious to get away without being seen. Did that pervert touch you? You don't have to be ashamed. It isn't your fault if you were molested. We can have a gentle, considerate police counselor take your statement, one who is sensitive and won't scare you or push you to tell your story too fast."

Light panicked. He couldn't be linked to this scene. It would be too suspicious. But, would the cop just let him go if he said he was okay, or would he want a statement anyway? No, wait, the cop had to die in any case. He'd remember Light's face.

Light put on a scared expression and said, "He said he was a cop too, but he... he..."

Light sobbed, then continued, "Are you a real cop? Can you show me your badge?"

The cop said, "Of course, kid."

Light took the held-out badge and looked at it carefully. Hirokazu Ukita.

Light said, "Is it okay if I write down your name, so if it's fake I can tell the real police? Otherwise, I'll be too scared to go with you."

"That's fine," Ukita said gently, "I won't hurt you. You need to feel secure."

Light smiled and slipped a piece of death note paper out of a pocket in his backpack, writing down:

**_Hirokazu Ukita accidental death_**

**_Immediately leaves the subway without taking anyone with him or ever talking to anyone about what he saw or heard there._**

**_Gets hit by a car four days later and then dies from his injures at a hospital._**

Light smiled at Ukita and put the paper back in his backpack.

To help wait out the forty seconds until the control from the instructions would take hold, Light said, "I feel so much better now that you let me write that down. The other man who said he was a cop wouldn't show me his badge. He said he thought I'd stolen something from one of the shops here, and he had to check underneath my clothing to make sure-"

Ukita suddenly got a blank look on his face and walked away.

Light smirked, then continued slipping from one blind spot to another until he had made his way completely out of the subway. As he walked from the subway station to the bus stop, he gloated, remembering Raye Penber's silly display. Yes, that's what happened to people who tried to stop Kira. Soon, very soon, L would be putting on his own crazy show himself before dying. Light considered his options for humiliating L, trying to think if there was something even worse than making people believe they'd turned into Captain Underpants.

Well, Light probably had at least a couple of weeks to think about that. There was no reason to rush it. Take it slow, brainstorm everything, and something would turn up.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

This fic is for Keelain, according to Keelain's plot suggestion.

Everyone in the cast is 7 years younger. This means Light is ten years old, L is seventeen, Sayu is seven, Soichiro is forty-one, Sachiko is thirty-four, Matsuda is eighteen and Ukita is nineteen. I think I figured out all the ages correctly, and if I made any mistakes, I apologize.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

When Light got home from killing Raye Penber, before he even stepped into the yard, he said, "Ryuk, go to my room and wait. I need to talk to Sayu first and then I'll bring her up to talk with you."

Ryuk said, "You'd better make all this worth it with plenty of apples."

"Don't worry, Ryuk. From now on, both of us will be bringing you apples."

Light smiled as he saw Ryuk fly up, land on the roof and sink through it. It was really lucky that there was an easy way to manipulate the shinigami, at least in small matters.

Light snuck in carefully and found Sayu still watching television. He draped himself over the back of the couch, hidden right behind her, and said, "This is why you don't get high grades."

Sayu yelped from surprise and then picked up a pillow and threw it at him. Light grabbed the pillow and threw it back so hard Sayu was knocked off the couch. Sachiko heard the noise and came in from the kitchen with a frown on her face, but when she saw Light she smiled and walked right to him.

She said, "Oh, wow, my perfect little boy does stop doing homework once in a while. I'm surprised! Do you want some cookies?"

Light bristled at being called a "little boy." He was nearly eleven!

But he smiled sweetly and said, "No, Mom, I want more apples. I've been reading about how healthy they are for you. Can you start buying a lot more?"

Sachiko rubbed the hair on top of his head, another annoying cutesy mannerism, but the next thing she said completely made up for it and made Light's heart warm with pride.

"Light, you're perfect in every way! A mother couldn't hope for anything better than you."

Yes, perfect. She knew it. And soon, the world itself would be perfect. All the ugliness would vanish and there would only be perfect people left. Perfect people like Light Yagami.

Sayu said, "Well, I want cookies!"

Light said, "Sayu, let's get cookies and apples, and then we can finish playing that game, okay?"

Sayu managed to fit five cookies in each chubby hand, and she alternated bites from one cookie to another as Light loaded up his backpack with apples and then got her alone in the living room. When Light was sure his mother was out of hearing range, he lowered his voice and said, "Now, you get to be a super-secret spy on the same side as secret agent Light, and I'll tell you my biggest secret, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?"

Sayu said, "Okay," cookie crumbs falling from her mouth and her eyes shining with anticipation.

Light said, "You've been specially authorized to know that a Christmas angel follows me around. Now he's hiding in my room and I want to show him to you, but you have to be very careful. If you tell anyone who isn't specially authorized about him, then a kitten will die. This is very serious. You don't want kittens to die, do you?"

Sayu said, "Nooooo!" but Light could tell by the look on her face that she thought it was just another game and was anxious to start playing. He hadn't paid this much attention to her during one day in quite a long time. It must be quite exciting, being allowed to bask in Light Yagami's presence.

Light said, "Now, this Christmas angel is completely real, so don't be startled. His name is Ryuk. Let's go see him."

Light went up the stairs and Sayu followed after, still doing her trick of taking one bite from each of the many cookies she was holding and then starting at the beginning again. Crumbs and even chunks were trailing all over the floor.

_Wow, Sayu's messy! It's a good thing that Mom does nothing but clean house all day and never complains or has any will of her own. Someday I'll marry a girl just like that._

Then, when Sayu entered Light's room, Sayu stopped and let loose a bloodcurdling scream.

Light said, "Sayu, be quiet! Remember the kittens!"

Sayu let out a little whimper and her eyes were very wide. Light wasn't even sure if she'd understood what he'd said. Her eyes were fixed on Ryuk.

While Light quickly pulled off one shoe and sock and placed the sock on his hand, Ryuk said, "I know I'm ugly. I'm like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. All the other Christmas angels think I'm awful, but I'm really a wonderful guy."

Sayu said, "Like Rudolph?"

Just then, Sachiko ran into the room, creases of worry on her forehead. She said, "Who got hurt?"

Light held up the hand with the sock on it and said, "I just scared Sayu with this puppet, sorry!"

Sayu looked at Ryuk again, doubt in her eyes.

Light made the sock puppet say, "Kittens, Sayu, remember the kittens."

Sayu laughed and said, "Oh, Mom, Light scared me so much! He's really scary! But I'm okay now."

Sachiko smiled and looked at the mess on the floor where Sayu had dropped all her cookies. Sachiko said, "It looks like you ran out of cookies! I'd better get the vacuum to clean those up and get you some more!"

As Sachiko left, she was humming a little tune. Housework always made her so happy.

After that, Sayu seemed to accept Ryuk's presence and everything Ryuk told her without any question, even though an awful lot of his Christmas stories revolved around how much Christmas angels needed apples.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Well, I didn't quite get to 17-year-old L yet, but don't worry, he'll be along pretty soon.

And so will all the other task force members.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Soichiro didn't know what to expect when meeting L. The Kira task force used to be a huge room with dozens of men, but it had shrunk to just a handful of officers, all quite young except himself. Maybe the older guys were smarter, or they all had families to worry about. And now, the location of headquarters would be L's hotel suite.

_Well, I'm Chief of the NPA, so there's no way I can fail these men. I must show them the way; I must be stronger, braver. If I quit because of the fear of Kira, everyone else will lose heart._

But still, Soichiro felt inadequate. There had never been such a young Chief of the NPA, a mere 41 years old, and he wondered if he was up to working with a great detective like L. Would L be disappointed to see a bunch of inexperienced young officers? The NPA was full of cowards.

But, when they all opened the door and saw L, Soichiro felt some of his self-confidence return, though he wasn't quite sure about his confidence in L.

L looked younger than any of them, incredibly scrawny, with long black hair down to his shoulders and falling into his face, nearly hiding his huge, black, bugged-out eyes. But his clothing was the most outrageous. Normally, Soichiro would have said the sloppy-looking long-sleeved t-shirt and baggy jeans were the most outrageous items, but it was the hat that really did it.

L was wearing the strangest hat Soichiro had ever seen. It looked like a shallow dish, and it had cake in it. As Soichiro watched, a robot arm on the side of the hat neatly cut out a bite-sized piece of cake and reached down to place it in L's mouth. L licked it in with a rolling motion of his tongue and chewed thoughtfully, then said, "Hi, I am L."

Everyone else held up their badges and introduced themselves.

L held up his finger and said, "Bang!"

In the next moments, L explained that nobody on the Kira task force should give out their names to people who didn't already know them. Otherwise, they'd get killed by Kira.

Aizawa said, "Is this a joke? Aren't you too young to be a detective? Are you fifteen or something?"

L said, "I'm seventeen, actually."

"That's okay," Matsuda said, "I'm eighteen, and Ukita is only nineteen. Ukita got into the NPA by graduating early, but I think it was nepotism in my case."

Soichiro said, "Matsuda! All of us who are here are braver than anyone else in the NPA. We're all qualified to be here."

Then L made his way further into the suite, to an area where there was a table and many chairs gathered around it. On the way, L stopped and put some doughnuts into his hat right beside the cake.

As L settled down into a monkey-like crouch on a chair and his hat fed him another bite of cake, he said, "Well, everyone is safe here. I trust all of you completely and know none of you are Kira."

"I'm glad," Aizawa said, "but, how do you know?"

L started playing videos on multiple screens, showing Raye Penber's death and the moments leading up to it.

L said, "It has become clear that, of the twelve FBI agents who died, Kira had contact with only one, Raye Penber."

Soichiro said, "How can you say that? All of them acted like this."

"Yes," L said, "but there are a number of differences. Raye Penber had more examples of erratic behavior before he died, including carrying an envelope clearly visible on surveillance video that disappeared before his death and riding a subway train in circles for far too long. However, there are more important differences than that."

L got out a clear plastic evidence bag containing red curtains and placed it on the table.

L said, "First, only two of the FBI agents managed to actually get red curtains as their capes. In the comic books, Captain Underpants wears red curtains. Some FBI agents managed to get curtains of the wrong color, or used something red but a tablecloth, towel, or sheet instead of curtains. Raye Penber was the only one who got it exactly right. These curtains even have tiny black dots on them, just like in the comic books."

Ukita said, "That just means he knew more about the comics, right?"

"No," L said, "Forensics tests show no fingerprints, pollen, hair, or even dust on these curtains. It was likely they were purchased with this purpose in mind and kept in the same plastic bag they were sold in until Raye himself opened that bag. Either Raye was controlled much earlier than the other FBI victims and he had enough time to purchase the correct curtains, or Kira bought those curtains himself and gave them to Raye. Either way, Kira is most certainly one of the people Raye was following."

Soichiro said, "Who was Raye Penber following?"

L looked right at Soichiro and said, "The Yagami family. You, your wife, your son and your daughter."

Soichiro's mind ran in circles. There had to be some mistake.

Soichiro said, "I'm not Kira! Run whatever tests you need to. I'll do whatever it takes. I can prove it."

L said, "Chief Yagami, didn't I already tell you I'm sure nobody here is Kira? It is true that Raye Penber was mainly there to watch you, but since you're not smart enough to be Kira, it could only be someone else in your household."

Soichiro said, "What!"

"That's why I gave you and the other NPA officers working on the Kira case intelligence tests two days ago. You're nowhere near smart enough to be Kira. Your son Light Yagami is, though. He's already smarter than most college students."

Soichiro choked out, "You... you think... I'm not as smart as my ten-year-old son?"

L ignored the question and used a remote control to display death scene photos of criminals.

L said, "Your son is familiar with the 'Captain Underpants' comics series, and his school records are full of references about his obsession with the Teletubbies. Take a good look at these."

Soichiro looked.

_Shit! _

One of the criminals had drawn what was clearly a picture of Po, the smallest Teletubby, the one who wore a red suit. And, he'd drawn it in his own blood.

Five of the criminals had written poems about the Teletubbies before their heart attacks, once again using blood on the walls of their cells. This was beginning to feel like it might be... just slightly plausible... that Kira had something to do with Light. But Light couldn't actually be Kira. That simply wasn't possible.

The robot arm on L's cake-hat reached down and tried to feed him another bite, but he said, "No," just as it reached his mouth, then said, "Doughnut with green sprinkles."

_Voice recognition? And, who knows what else? _

The robot arm went back up to the pile of cake and doughnuts and hovered there, scanning a grid of red laser-lights over the pile, then neatly sliced out a bite-sized piece of the doughnut with the green sprinkles and then gently fed it to L.

L said, "I propose that we install hidden cameras in the Yagami household and try to see if Light Yagami is Kira or has any connection to Kira. However, I'm open to other suggestions or insights. I'd like to hear what each one of you thinks about the Raye Penber incident. Starting with you, Ukita, since police records show you were actually called to the scene, though I see you've failed to write a report about it."

In a weird monotone, Ukita said, "I have nothing to say about that."

What was going on? Soichiro glanced at L and saw a very alarmed look on the detective's face.

L said, "Ukita, I'm afraid you must tell us. We can arrest you for conspiracy and withholding information."

Shit! Was Ukita on Kira's side?

In the next moment, Ukita had jumped up and was running for the door of the suite.

L shouted, "Stop him, but don't kill him. He could be controlled!"

Soichiro started running. Ukita was already out the door. He heard the pounding of many feet behind him and was sure all the others were following him.

Soichiro said, "Someone, stay behind to protect L."

And then Soichiro was slipping into the hotel hallway, looking both ways. Completely empty. There was a stairway at either end of the hallway, and an elevator in the middle. Which way had Ukita gone?

Soichiro ran for the furthest stairway and said, without even looking back over his shoulder, "One of you take the other stairway, and one the elevator. If you can't find him quickly, guard the entrances of the hotel, front and back."

Soichiro reached his stairway and pounded down it, even though he still didn't see or hear Ukita. Ukita was probably trying to escape the building. There wasn't much sense in holing up inside.

Then, Soichiro heard a screeching of tires just as he was running out the front entrance and saw Ukita, lying on the road in a pool of blood. He immediately pulled out his cellphone and called for an ambulance, then ran to Ukita's body and checked it, finding a weak pulse. The woman who had hit Ukita was standing nearby, hovering helplessly, a look of sheer shock on her face. Soichiro made sure to get her name while waiting for the ambulance.

Then, when the ambulance got there, Soichiro accompanied Ukita all the way to the hospital and waited anxiously with the other Kira task force members as Ukita was being operated on, in hopes of saving his life. A few hours later, the news came back. Ukita was dead.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Yes, Ukita's death was written for four days in the future, and the task force's first meeting with L was four days after the Raye Penber incident.

Since canon L describes his seventeen-year-old self as someone who did "weird things" I was trying to make a weirder version of L. However, L is already so weird that making him too weird could easily derail the plot and turn this from crack fiction into just plain OOC cheese, so I had trouble with it.

When I imagine teenage L, I often imagine him with hair that is somewhat longer, and people's hair styles usually do change through time, so I put that here.

Since Watari is an inventor, I wanted L to be using one of Watari's weird inventions. The cake hat is roughly modeled after the beer hats you sometimes see at sporting events.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

L had settled in to watch with Soichiro before the hidden cameras were even installed. It was just the two of them inside a hotel suite, with a rows upon rows of monitors, all currently blank except just one. That monitor was showing a view from a hidden camera disguised as a pin on Mogi's shirt collar as he approached the Yagami house. Soon, Mogi would install the other hidden cameras. L's eyes were fixed on the active screen in fascination. Would they soon discover proof of an abnormally young serial killer?

Soichiro nervously cleared his throat and said, "You understand why I don't want any of the others to watch this footage, don't you?"

L pressed a thumb to his bottom lip and said, "Of course. It is your private home, and you have a wife who is thirty-four years old. If I was in your situation, I would also want the observers to be reduced to the absolute minimum."

Mogi had just reached the door and Sachiko was answering it. Wow! She was a really good-looking mature woman, even better than the file photo L had seen earlier. Her skin had almost a glow to it, her eyes had such life, and the way she tilted her head slightly as she talked to what she thought was merely a pest inspector, it all worked so well together. Sachiko was quite thoroughly grown up.

Then Sachiko stepped to the side to let Mogi in, and the way her hips swayed and her sweater clung close really drew L's gaze.

Before L could stop himself, he blurted out, "Wow, your wife is really a MILF!"

"What?"

"Oh," L said, "forget I said anything. It only makes sense in English."

Soichiro said, "I know a little English."

"No, forget it, really," L said.

And, thankfully, Soichiro seemed satisfied with that. Well, this was what happened when you weren't used to investigating with others. L resolved to be more careful in the future.

On the screen, Mogi held out a hand with one of the hidden cameras for Sachiko to inspect. It looked like a small grayish metallic disk lying on Mogi's palm. In the background, Sayu was watching television and Light was sitting in a living room chair, reading a book. Was that a slight flicker of interest from Light?

Mogi said, "Mrs. Yagami, I will need access to every room of the house. I will be back in one week to collect the detectors. If any termites have been in your house, the pheromones they exude will be collected by these detectors."

Sachiko leaned close to inspect the hidden camera that she thought was a termite detector. The hair from the side of her face fell over one eye fetchingly, almost hiding it, so the effect was as if she were looking through a veil.

She said, "Will these change color if they detect termites?"

"No, Ma'am. I will need to collect them and return them to the lab after the week is finished, to see if they detected anything."

"And what happens if your tests say we don't have termites, but later it turns out they were wrong?"

"As long as you keep up your annual tests, Koga Pest Company will fully pay for any structural damage."

Sachiko nodded, looking satisfied, and then said, "Light, Sayu, the pest inspector will be installing these detector disks. Please don't bother these items or remove them, okay?"

Without even turning away from the TV, Sayu called out, "Okay, Mom!"

Light hesitated. Was that look on his face slightly suspicious? Then Light said, "That's fine, Mom."

L dropped a few more sugar cubes into his coffee and then took a long, loud sip, watching Mogi installing the cameras. Most were placed high, to give sweeping views of each room, and the blank monitors were coming to life one by one as more and more cameras were placed and turned on.

Yes, soon, they would be in every room. Soichiro had insisted that there shouldn't be any blind spots. Once this test was finished, Soichiro needed to know his son was completely in the clear. Every room. One week. L swallowed as he thought about the implications of that. Sooner or later, Sachiko was going to take a shower, and from the looks of it, she was one hot MILF. Once the clothing came off, would it look the way his imagination was already filling in the details?

Yes, it probably would. Sachiko was well-developed, with a firm behind and breasts that were high and tight, not saggy. Her skin was clear and healthy-looking. She probably didn't have any flab or varicose veins hidden under that clothing. From the look of her, it would be nothing but the body of a fully mature, ripe woman once she revealed it. It would be easy to make a copy of any shower videos, or videos of her dressing and undressing, and sneak them into the private stash...

Soichiro said, "Is it truly necessary to put sixty-four cameras in my son's room?"

L replied, "That is how many are needed to completely cover the room, and Light's room is the most likely place for him to do something suspicious. He could use objects to block the cameras, but we can't do anything about that because it is impossible to prevent cameras from being blocked. If he starts blocking them, we'll have more reason to suspect him."

L noticed a misplaced camera and pressed a button on a microphone in from of him, one that went straight to an earpiece in Mogi's ear. "Mogi, you put it too far under the edge of the shelf. I can't see anything from that camera."

Mogi was alone in Light's room with the door closed. As he moved the objectionable camera, he dropped his voice and said, "Can you see the view now? Or should I move this camera to the left?"

L said into the microphone, "Move it to the right instead."

Mogi adjusted it, and soon it was fine, giving a clear view of the room. Just as L finished telling Mogi that the camera was indeed in the right place, he noticed something odd in the living room. Both Light and Sayu were staring attentively at empty space, with looks on their faces as if they were listening to someone talk.

Sayu opened her mouth as if to say something, but Light shot her an angry glare and said, "Remember the kittens."

Sayu said, "But-"

Light said, "If anyone finds out, one kitten."

Sayu said, "Ohhhhhh! Sorry."

L said, "Both of your children are hiding something. And, I think Light realizes that cameras are being installed."

Soichiro started up from his chair and said, "Sayu would never... and if she thought Light was killing people, she would cry all the time."

L said, "Obviously, Light hasn't told her everything. A child of Light's intelligence could easily fool a child of Sayu's intelligence. But she knows something about this. I am sorry, Chief Yagami. This operation has become riskier than I anticipated. If Light is Kira and Sayu knows something, and Light believes we are closing in on him, there is a significant chance he will kill his sister to keep her quiet."

Soichiro said, "But... but..."

L said, "We have little time. For Sayu's sake, we are going to have Mogi tell Light the truth."

"Didn't you say that was too risky?"

"Not this way. If Light realizes he'll be proven as Kira if his sister dies, then her life will be saved."

L pressed the microphone button as Soichiro sweated beside him and explained the situation to Mogi in as few words as possible. Then they both watched the monitors as Mogi went to the living room and called Sachiko in there.

Sachiko emerged from the kitchen and said, "Is there any problem?"

Mogi pulled out his police badge with the fake name and said, "Mrs. Yagami, I'm here on behalf of L, to investigate your son Light."

Light made a startled little jump in place and then his features quickly went into a bland, neutral look. L could see, though, that Light's fingers were trembling slightly.

Sachiko looked shocked speechless, and Mogi continued, "L believes Light could be Kira. If I die, or if Light's sister Sayu dies, Light will be proven as Kira."

Sachiko said, "I don't understand."

Mogi removed the earpiece from his ear and said, "Would you like to speak with your husband? He will assure you I'm telling the truth."

Sachiko took a few steps backward, looking very nervous and confused. She fished her own cellphone out of her pocket.

L turned to Soichiro and said, "Get your cellphone from the front table. I think she'll call you."

Soichiro was up and running for the entranceway of the hotel suite, and Sachiko was pressing buttons on her cellphone. In a few moments, Soichiro was coming back with his cellphone pressed to his ear and the two were talking. Sachiko was extremely incredulous and kept asking Soichiro again and again to repeat himself. Her eyes looked as if they were about to bug out of her head. Finally she hung up and dropped her phone onto the floor, looking as if she might faint at any moment.

Mogi said, "Mrs. Yagami, the 'pest detectors' I installed are actually very small cameras. L would like to keep your house under surveillance, and see if Light does anything Kira-like. If you won't let us keep the cameras in place, then we would like to take Light into custody and see if the criminal deaths stop."

Light said, "Mom, it doesn't matter what Dad says. This guy is probably a pedophile who took Dad prisoner to force him to say those things to you. We need to call the police now."

Sayu said, "Mom, what is a Kira? And what is a pedophile?"

Sachiko shakily used a foot to reach out and slide her cellphone closer to her without getting close to Mogi, and then gingerly picked it up. Light had a smirk on his face that almost looked evil.

Light said, "I'm going to get rid of the cameras, okay Mom?"

Without waiting for an answer, Light got up and ran, going up the stairs.

As Sachiko called the police, L called NPA Deputy-Director Kitamura and told him not to send police to the Yagami house. There was no reason to make the situation even more confusing and possibly get Mogi arrested for using a false police badge. Mogi was still standing in the living room helplessly, trying to explain himself but continually interrupted by crazy looks Sachiko was giving him.

Within that time, Light had pulled a small stepladder from a closet and locked himself in his room. L saw that Light was methodically removing the cameras.

L pressed the microphone button and said to Mogi, "Light is going to try something in his room. You need to break down the door and take him into custody, now."

Mogi ran upstairs, leaving a frightened Sachiko in the kitchen, arguing with the police on her cellphone.

Mogi kicked at the door and even tried ramming his entire body into it, but it was of very solid construction and only groaned under his attacks.

Soichiro jumped to the microphone, pressed it and said, "There is a toolbox under my bed with a pry bar in it."

Mogi rushed to the Yagami bedroom as more of the cameras in Light's room went blank. Just as the last camera in Light's room went out, Mogi was at Light's door, the door splintered open and L could see the view of Light's room only from the hidden camera fastened to Mogi's collar. Light had a desk drawer open, but he quickly closed it.

Mogi said, "Don't move, kid!"

Light backed up a few paces, looking as if he were about to have a nervous breakdown, his eyes frantic, his hands trembling.

Mogi opened the same drawer. The bottom didn't look right. Before L could shout a warning through the microphone, Mogi had wrenched the bottom up and there was a sudden whoosh of flame. Mogi was screaming and hit the floor, the camera view a whirl of spinning chaos. He must be rolling to put out the flame.

L pulled out his cellphone, hit a button and said, "Aizawa, move in now. Mogi is hurt. Bring Matsuda, a fire extinguisher and the first aid kit. Arrest Light if you can."

Then L pressed the microphone button and said, "Mogi, are you all right? How badly are you hurt?"

L only heard heavy breathing for a few moments, and then there was a camera motion as if Mogi were sitting up, showing a small fire on Light's desk, and Light himself flattened against the wall as far away from it as he could get, looking wide-eyed and confused.

Mogi's voice came over the connection, saying, "My- my arms. They're badly burned. Everything else is fine. I shielded my face."

L said, "Good. I did not get a view through the camera of what was in that drawer. Did you see it?"

"It looked like maybe a notebook. I only saw for a moment before the fire came out."

L said, "I think that must have been physical evidence. Try to see if there are any unburned pieces."

Mogi got up with a groan, and began searching. He quickly found a fragment of paper with all the edges burnt. Just then, Matsuda and Aizawa rushed into the room. Matsuda ran to the desk fire and sprayed it with a fire extinguisher. Suddenly, Mogi started screaming.

L said, "Mogi, give the evidence to Aizawa and let them secure the area and take Light away. You need medical treatment."

Mogi screamed, "It- it's a thing! A horrible thing!"

L said, "What kind of thing?"

Mogi said, "It says- it says it is a shinigami!"

Aizawa took the scrap of paper from Mogi and started yelling as well.

Everything was chaotic for the next few minutes as Light was handcuffed and the invisible presence was apparently telling all kind of things to Aizawa, Mogi and Matsuda and a few more scraps of mostly-burned paper were retrieved from the scene and Mogi had some hasty first aid put on his burns and was then sent off to the hospital.

Through it all, Light acted extremely bewildered, and at last the reason why came out. The shinigami, Ryuk, said that all of Light's memories had been destroyed. At one point, Sayu wandered near and asked why everybody was talking to the Christmas angel, then burst into tears and started babbling about dead kittens.

It took two days to sort out everything, and the entire time Soichiro seemed to be in a state of deep shock, hardly able to say anything. At last, when it seemed that everything had been investigated thoroughly and proven as well as it ever would be, Soichiro confronted L and said, "I just- I still can't believe it. My boy, he's so young, and he's so good. How did this happen? Did that monster possess him?"

L replied, "It is impossible to prove whether Ryuk made him do those things or not. Some people do not have a proper sense of compassion and empathy for others, and your son could be one of them. That is why he will be forced to go to regular psychiatric counseling until he is twenty. A ten-year-old cannot rightly be executed or sent to prison, but his crimes are so severe something needs to be done."

"I- I agree," Soichiro said, "Do you think he will be fixed, and become a normal adult?"

L said, "Light has every characteristic of a great detective. I would like to be an advisor to monitor the progress of his case. If his sociopathic tendencies can be overcome, then by the time he is grown, perhaps I would even want to mentor him as a detective in training. We will see how he turns out."

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Well, that is the end. Sorry this last chapter took so long to come out, but I got stuck on the plot. I had been planning for 13-year-old Misa to have a minor part right before Light gets captured, but it seemed that no matter how I plotted it, I just couldn't get the plot kinks worked out so that it would all make sense, so I finally gave up on bringing in Misa and ended the story this way instead.

Light was caught much easier in this fanfic because, at age ten, he just wasn't as intelligent as his older self, and he also had less life experience and fewer resources.

I realize this fic had the potential to go into massive multi-chapterness and thus re-tread the entire Death Note storyline from a younger perspective, but I never intended to do that. Two reasons: one, I think 10-year-old Light would only pull a few tricks on L before getting caught and anything else just isn't realistic and, two, I think that re-treads of the entire series with a different perspective are usually boring, and I wasn't at all sure I could pull it off for more chapters than this.

I'd rather end on a high note, when I think I'm actually still pulling off the premise, than drag it out into a bunch of chapters of fail and then realize I'd better end it because it just wasn't written that well.

If you want an LxSachiko fic that actually goes somewhere, there's a wonderful fic by SunMoonAndSpoon called "Kids" that has a full-blown romance and lemon and everything. Unfortunately, you will need to actually search for the author and/or title, since the author didn't use fanfiction dot net's character tags to indicate it as an LxSachiko, so you'll only find it if you're looking for that specific fic. It isn't finished, but it's still pretty good.


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